Sfiha

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 gplain flour
• 350 mlwarm water
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspsugar
• 4 tbspoil
• 3 tbspyoghurt

Topping

• 500 gminced lamb, coarsely ground with some fat
• 3tomatoes, deseeded and very finely diced
• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 3 tbsppomegranate molasses
• 2 tbsptahini
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspallspice
• 1 tspblack pepper
• ½ tspchilli flakes
• salt

Optional

• 50 gpine nuts
• 1 tbspsumac

To serve

• a squeeze of lemon
• yoghurt
• mint tea

Directions

1. Make the dough first, since it needs a couple of hours. Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar, then work in the water, oil and yoghurt. The yoghurt is what makes the dough soft and tender rather than bready, and it is characteristic.
2. Knead 8 to 10 minutes until smooth, then prove 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled. Chop the onions very finely, salt them, and leave them in a sieve for 20 minutes. Squeeze the onions genuinely dry.
3. Deseed the tomatoes and dice them finely, then drain them too. The tahini binds the mixture and stops it drying out, and it is a Baalbek touch. Mix it thoroughly with your hands and leave it 30 minutes for the flavours to meet.
4. Taste a tiny fried piece and adjust the salt and the pomegranate molasses. It should be clearly sour behind the spice, and that sourness is what people judge a sfiha on. Roll each into a ball and rest them 15 minutes covered. Now roll or press each into a thin round of about 9 cm. Roll them thin. Sfiha are meant to be a thin base under the meat rather than a bread with topping.
5. Spread a heaped teaspoon of the meat mixture over each, right to the edge. Take the meat to the very edge, because the exposed rim burns before the centre cooks otherwise.
6. Pinch the corners firmly so they hold, and leave the centre open. The corners will unfold in the oven if they are not pinched hard. Scatter pine nuts over if you are using them. They need a fierce short bake. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until the base is golden and the meat is just cooked and still juicy.
7. Take them out while the meat still looks moist, because it carries on cooking in its own heat. Serve them straight from the oven with a squeeze of lemon.

Technique

• The square shape is the Baalbek signature and round versions are made elsewhere.
• They freeze well baked and reheat in a hot oven.
• Sfiha travelled with Lebanese emigrants to Brazil, where esfiha is now everywhere.

Substitutions

• Minced beef in place of lamb, which is common.
• Lemon juice and a little sugar if pomegranate molasses is unavailable, though it is not the same.

Variations

• Round rather than square, as made outside Baalbek.
• Closed, as the Brazilian esfiha fechada.
• With more chilli, in the Aleppo style.

History

Open meat pies of Baalbek, small and square, baked with minced lamb, tomato and pomegranate molasses.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sfiha?

Sfiha is a bread & pastry from Lebanon: open-faced spiced meat pies with pomegranate tang; Baalbek’s pride. Open meat pies of Baalbek, small and square, baked with minced lamb, tomato and pomegranate molasses.

How long does Sfiha take to make?

Sfiha takes 40 min plus 2 hr rising of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 small pies. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sfiha?

Yes, within limits. Minced beef in place of lamb, which is common. Lemon juice and a little sugar if pomegranate molasses is unavailable, though it is not the same.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sfiha?

Make the dough first, since it needs a couple of hours. Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar, then work in the water, oil and yoghurt. The yoghurt is what makes the dough soft and tender rather than bready, and it is characteristic.